Thursday, June 14, 2012

Fuji X-S1 Review – Part 4 – Battery Charger

A quick post to document the travesty that is the X-series chargers. Only the X10 escapes this annoyance because it uses the tried and true NP50. But the X100 and X-S1 use larger batteries and thus required a new charger.

I posted already how much I disliked the X100 charger because it was missing some silly little plastic insert, and thus forced me to stuff cardboard into the cavity to get the battery into contact with the, well, contacts :-)

So here I get to show you what this silly piece looks like in the right place, and outside the charger where it will inevitably end up as there is no friction or clasp to hold it in. In other words, pick it up carelessly and you might be doomed to a lifetime of folding cardboard to make the charger work. Shameful omission on a high end camera.


fuji x-s1  1600iso  f/3.5  1/10


fuji x-s1  1600iso  f/3.5  1/7

That’s low light! And do note that the charger is not charging even though the battery is in the slot. But you can see the massive gap in the second image, so of course the springs will keep the battery away from the contacts.

Obviously not a fatal thing, since you only have to keep the plastic thing around or stuff the slot with paper folded over to substitute, but it is an unnecessary worry for users.